Dispensing bottle cap



June 19, 1945. VENSEL 2,378,451

DISPENS ING BOTTLE CAP Fild NOV. 17, 1943 IN VEN TOR.

WILBUR EVENSEL BY wgwq Q04,

A T TOR/VEY6 temperature conditions.

Patented Julie 19, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 17, 1943, Serial No. 510,589

Claims.

The present invention relates to a bottle closure or cap for containing and dispensing'easily vaporizable liquids, liquid solvents and vehicles, such as ethyl chloride (boiling point 125 C.) ethyl ether (B. P. 34 C.) acetone (B. P. 35 (3.), chloroform (B. P. 61 C.). The dispensing of such vaporizableliquid solvents and vehicles from a container such as a glass bottle is dependent upon a generation of an internal vapor pressure within the bottle, which internal pressure in turn forces the liquid-out through a very fine tube or orifice when the bottle is inverted.

' Heretofore, considerable expense and difficulty has been encountered in the assembly and manufacture of bottle closure and dispensing devices designed for this purpose. Capillary glass tubes have previously been employed which require skilled assembly workers and careful inspection to make sure that the glass tube is properly sealed withrespect to the closure cap body and with respect to the bottle, in order to avoid leakers particularly when the bottle of vaporizable liquid is .tof'be subjected to relatively high atmospheric Thus, the expense of materials, skilled labor, and the conditions of subsequent usage of the product have all been contributing factors presenting problems and difficulties which my present invention is designed to overcome. I

I have discovered, that by elimination of any separate capillary tubeor orifice-forming elements such as a glass tube, and. by making the dispensing orifice or tube as an integral part of the dispensing cap body, that these previously encountered difficulties can be eliminated.

In addition, I have found that by employing two small passages, relatively spaced and separated from each other by an expansion chamber, that the vaporizable liquid can be made to issue from the dispensing cap in the form of a spray insteadof a solid jet of liquid, thus greatly contributing to the efficiency of application of the liquid from the bottle, such as in the use of ethyl ",chlbride in local anesthesia.

A further object and advantage of my invention is to be found in its ease of assembly to the bottle, which assembly can be accomplishedby ordinary, unskilled labor, and that once assembled it provides a tightly sealed closure which is proof against subsequent slow leakage, even under the most rigorous conditions of storage and use.

Still another object of my inventionis to provide means for adjusting and varying the size and pattern of the spray of vaporizable liquid issuing from the dispensing cap.

Another object of my invention is to provide a dispensing bottle cap which lends itself to economical, mass production methods while still retaining the uniformity and accuracy of product desired. I have found that as a further novel result of the use of two relatively spaced passages in the bottle cap, separated by an expansion chamber, such passages need not be made of the capillary fineness (on the'order of .007 in. diameter) heretofore found necessary in the case of a glass tube dispensing passage, and that by reason of the permissibility of using larger passages, the latter may be formed directly into the-body of the material forming the closure cap. Hence, such mass production manufacturing processes such as pressure molding; i. e., die casting of non-ferrous metals, compression and injection molding of chemically resistant plastic materials, can be utilized in the manufacture of my invention to good advantage.

Additional objects and advantages of my invention shall become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention then comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following descrip-' tion and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the in vention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a bottle with the dispensing cap embodying the principle of my invention assembled thereon;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the dispensing cap;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional detail taken through the cap and mouth of the bottle;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of the invention; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken through d the outer portion of the bottle cap and illustrating the manner in which the size and character of the dispensing spray can be varied.

Now referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown therein a glass bottle I having the outer projecting flange 2 adjacent: the neck,

and the threads 3 which are adapted to be engaged by the closure and dispensing. cap body 4. The latter has a downwardly depending, annular flange 5 whose inner surface has the female thread portionsas indicated at which are adapted to engage with the threads 3 on'the bottle I.

The cap body 4 has a shoulder or inner, transverse face portion 1 which is parallel to the inwardly projecting flange 8 on the mouth of the bottle I. An annular sealing gasket or washer 9, of a compressible material such as cork, is adapted to be compressed between the surface 1 and the outside face of the flange 8, and thus seal the cap body 4 with respect to the mouth of the bottle I.

The outer or upper portion of the cap body 4 is in the form of'a nozzle having the eduction passage ill, the walls of which diverge inwardly of the length of the passage as indicated at H. A passage I2 is formed in the insert I3 which may be in the form of a right cylinder or a truncated right cone and is adapted to fit within a complementary recess within the cap body 4. 'I'heinsert i3 is of a tapered or conical shape in Fig. 3 and the correspondinginsert I3 is of a right cylindrical shape in Fig. 4.

The insert [3 thus presents a partition wall portion [4 and a concave portion l5 which form the inner end of the enlarged passage or chamher between the smaller passages l0 and I2. The

maximum diameter of the chamber formed by the portions II and i5 is preferably on the order of twenty times that of the diameter of the outer .nozzle passage Ill. The diameter of the passage I0 is at least equal to or greater than the diameter of the passage I2.

The-insert I3 also has a concave portion M which is of the same size and adapted to be located in alignment with the central openings or holes I I and IS in the bottle neck flange 8 and in the washer 9, respectively.

The outer end IQ of the insert it is made flush with the inner face I of the cap body 4, so that the washer 9 overlies the joint or parting line between the surfaces 1 and I9 and seals the insert l3 with respect to the body cap 4.

An operating lever 20 carries a rubber closure plug 2| on its outer end, is pivotally mounted as at 22 on the side of the cap body 4 and normally held in closed position by means of the force of the wire spring 23. When the lever 20 is operated to assume the position as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, and the bottle inverted, the dispensing operation then takes place. As shown in Fig. 5, the liquid is forced through the inner passage l2, into the expansion chamber H and thence out through theouter nozzle passage M. The dispensed liquid, or mixture of liquid and vapor, takes the form of the spray indicated at S in Fig. 5. r

Althoughl do not hereby limit myself to the theory. or principle of operation ascribed to the device, it is believed that as the solid stream issues from the inner passage l2 into the expansion chamber ,that a vaporization takes place in such expansion chamber and that the vapor so formed is entrained with the remaining liquid which passes through the expansion chamber H nature as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.

In the modified form of the device asshown in Fig, 4, the outer nozzle passage Ill is made larger than the inner nozzle passagev I! in the insert II.

The insert 13' is of a right cylindrical 10.... so

5 that it can be inserted into the cap body 4' in eitherthe direction shown in solid or dotted concavity l6 takes the place of the smaller concavity l5 and thus makes a larger expansion chamber between the passages l0 and l 2'. Thus, the dispensing cap can be accommodated for various types of vaporizable liquids. Th s, if a relatively slower vaporizable liquid is to be dispensed from the bottle I the expansion chamber between the passages I0 and I2 is increased in capacity, correspondingly increasing the opportunity for vaporization therein, by inverting the insert l3 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 6, the relative size of the inner and outer pasages determines the size and pattern of the spray of dispensed liquid. Thus in Fig. 6, the outer nozzle passage I0 is made of a larger diameter than that of the inner passage l2', with the result that the spray size and pattern, as indicated at S, has a larger divergence as compared to the spray pattern S of Fig. 5. The inner and outer passages l0 and i2, of my above described device, can be made much larger than the capillary tubes or passages heretofore required without substantially increasing the rate of discharge of the fluid from the bottle. In fact, in normal usage and operation, a given quantity of vaporizable liquid such as ethyl chloride, when dispensed from my above described'device, will last longer, viz., give a greater number of applications, than in the case of a dispensing device in which the liquid issues as a solid stream. The diameter of the passages i0 and I! in my device need be no smaller than .012 in., as compared to the .007 in. heretofore required in the glass tube type of dispensing device.

The bottle dispensing cap of my invention thus lends itself very conveniently to manufacture by pressure molding production methods, wherein the openings l0 and H can be cast or molded directly into the cap body 4 and insert l3; respectively, and without having to perform separate hole drilling operations. Non-ferrous metals, such as brass, lead and white metal can be die cast to form the cap body 4 and insert it. Plastic materials, such as the phenolic and urea resins, which are chemically resistant to ethyl chloride, are also particularly well adapted for being formed by compression or injection molding processes for the making of my dispensing bottle cap.

Other modes oi applying the principle of the invention maybe employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end oi'said cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle when inverted, said cap body forming a one piece structure of inverted cup shape form overlying the top of the bottle mouth said'nozzle comprising a passage diverging inwardly to a multiple diameter of its outer end, an insert mounted against the inside oil said cap body and constituting a partition wall in said body forming the inner end of said passage, and a passage in said partition wall 01' a diameter not greater than that 0! said outer end of said first-named e.

2; A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end ofsaid cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle when inverted, an insert fitting within the inner portion of said body, said insert having a passage communicating with said nozzle and with said bottle mouth, the inner face of said insert coinciding with the inside face of said body, and an annular sealing washer overlying such inner faces of said insert and of said body, said inner face of said cap body contacting the outer face of said washer.

3. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end of said cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle'whe'n inverted, an insert in the intermediate portion of said body; said insert having a passage communicating with said nozzle and with said bottle mouth, the diameter of said passage being not greater than the inner diameter of said nozzle, the inner face of said body, and an annular sealing washer overlying A such inner faces of said insert and of said body,

said inner face of said cap body contacting the outer face of. said washer.

4. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end of said cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle-mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle when inverted, said cap body forming a one piece structure of inverted cup shape form overlying the top of the bottle mouth said nozzle comprising a passage diverging inwardly to a multiple diameter of its outer end, an insert fitting into the inside of said body and forming the inner end of said passage, and said insert having a passage leading from the inner end of said body to said first-named passage.

5. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end of said cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle when inverted, said nozzle comprising a passage diverging inwardly to a multiple diameter of its outer end, an insert fitting into the intermediate portion of said body and forming the inner end of said passage, said insert having a passage leading from the inner end of said body to said first-named passage, the inner face of said insert coinciding with the inside face of said body, and an annular sealing washer overlying said inner faces of said insert and of said body, said inner face of said cap body contacting the outer face of said washer.

6. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liquids, comprising a cap body, an annular flange on one end of said cap body adapted threadably to engage a bottle mouth, a nozzle on the other end of said body for the eduction of a liquid spray from the bottle when inverted, said nozzle comprising a passage diverging inwardly to a multiple diameter of its outer end, an insert fitting into the intermediate portion of said body and forming the inner end of said passage, said insert having a passage leading from the inner end of said body to said first-named passage, the diameter of the latter being not less than that of said second passage, the inner face of said insert coinciding with the inside face of said body, and an annular sealing washer overlying said inner faces of said insert and of said body, said inner face of said cap body contacting the outer face of said washer.

'7. A package 'for containing and dispensing vaporizable liquids, consisting of a bottle, a radially inwardly projecting flange on the mouth of said bottle, acap engaging over the outside of the bottle mouth, a pair of inner and outer passages in said cap, an expansion chamber joining said passages, and an annular sealing gasket of a width substantially equal to that of said bottle mouth flange positioned within the inner face of said cap and the outer face of said bottle mouth flange, said inner face of said cap contacting the outer surface of said sealing gasket.

8. A package for containing and dispensing vaporizable liquids, consisting of a bottle, a radially inwardly projecting flange on the mouth of said bottle, a cap engaging over the outside of the bottle mouth, the outer end of said cap having an inwardly diverging dispensing nozzle passage, an'insert fitting into said cap and covering the end of said passage, a second passage in said insert communicating the bottle mouth with said nozzle passage, the inner face of said substantially equal to that of said bottle mouth cap overlying said inner faces of said insert and of said cap, and abutting said bottle mouth flange, said inner face of said cap contacting the outer surface of said sealing gasket.

9. A combined closure and dispensing cap for bottles containing vaporizable liquids such as ethyl chloride and the like, comprising a nozzleshaped cap body of molded plastic material corrosive-resistant to said liquids, said cap body threadably engaging over the bottle mouth and enclosing it and a cylindrical insert of said plastic material fitting within said body, said insert and said body having aligned central passages therethrough.

10. A dispensing bottle cap for vaporizable liq- WILBUR E. V'ENSEL. 

